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Ask HN: How can I sell my patent

10 points by MrSpringDiver ↗ HN
Hi HN

I'm working on a prototype and planning to register it as a patent to benefit from it It is a product of home appliance makes new idea of how it works It does the work of more than single product together, and it may be used as public machine to pay for use

I don't have suitable conditions to make corporation startup so I want to sell it for a fair price

It is not a smart product yet ~ it depends on buttons rather than screen and has no remote control as of now What do you think is better for marketing? Buttons or Screen?

Share your thoughts

25 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 59.0 ms ] thread
captainredbeard
While it is not impossible, I would not view this strategy as a reasonable one w.r.t. generating meaningful income.

Focus on building a real thing, that solves a real problem, and get real people to pay you real money.

MrSpringDiver
It does It solves real problem and it will be a solution for many people who can pay It's about producing and marketing the product I want to sell it for a company which take that responsibility and I get good profit
c22
I have dozens upon dozens of notebooks filled with ideas, some of them good. Each year I produce a couple more. If companies were willing to pay a "good profit" for ideas I'd be rich.

What actually matters is the nitty gritty of turning an idea into a real thing. People will pay you for doing this work. Otherwise, they might as well just iterate on one of their own ideas and keep all the profit to themselves.

As mentioned upthread, if you successfully patent your idea you may be able to get some company to pay you licensing fees if they are working on a similar idea. This is just a hedge for them against the possibility of being sued by you.

MrSpringDiver
Man it's a project with manufacturing designs and materials Not a daydream
c22
I assure you my notebooks are not filled exclusively with daydreams (although that is a bit of it). Many of my ideas have become quite detailed and some I have even executed on! But I was just trying to offer some helpful advice, not get into a dick measuring contest.
wizzerking
As an Engineer with 6 patents I am a co-author on If you want to earn money from the patent I suggest licensing your patent. If a startup approaches you, make the terms easy in the beginning working toward a % of the gross as the company matures. Most companies do not have deep pockets to outright buy your patent for money that will change your life.
MrSpringDiver
Sorry I just forgot to mention that I can't make a startup nearly Thanks for that anyway
ALittleLight
I believe the patent is not suggesting that you make a startup but rather that you offer to license your patent to a patent and be flexible with the terms allowing yourself to get more compensation as the startup gets more money.
MrSpringDiver
I have my ongoing business and it gives good income Also where I live it's not easy to work on tech and I can't leave my current business How can I make a company for that without me in it?
ALittleLight
That's what licensing a patent is. People pay you to use your intellectual property (i.e. the patent). You don't have to work at the company that licenses the patent, you can license it to multiple companies, and you don't have to sell the patent. Think about it as, instead of selling the patent, you're just letting people use it. If your patent were a carnival it would be like selling admission to the carnival versus selling the entire carnival.

In order to know more you should really talk to a lawyer about it. I assume there are intellectual property lawyers in your jurisdiction. You could try looking for an intellectual property lawyer who has done work in a similar area as your patent. If you can't find any by searching yourself, you could ask the lawyers you do know to help you. Once you have a good intellectual property lawyer talk to them and ask them for guidance and next steps.

I think what you're asking about is really more complicated and important than what should be settled by forum comments. You need to bring in a professional if you're talking about amounts of money that would be meaningful for you.

MrSpringDiver
Great Thank Man You're the only one here who gave a meaningful advice If you can link more resources it will be more appreciated
aurizon
Make sure any patent assignment has a pull-back mechanism in case the initial buyer goes broke and some other entity buys the patent from the bankruptcy trustee with zero to you, and often the royalties are stripped - not sure how they did it, but patent lawyers have ways to structure a deal so if you have a valid idea and it looks like a good potential earner, he should be able to compose a good enduring deal.
MrSpringDiver
I have good connections with many lawyers I don't think I'll have a problem with that What I don't have an idea about is where to sell it? Where to offer it? Who wants it? etc
ALittleLight
Wouldn't people need to know what the idea is to give you advice about where you could sell it? Perhaps your lawyers know a good lead.
engmgrmgr
Are you in the US? The patent process usually takes a long time (potentially many years) and potentially a lot of money.

Your details about not being able to form a company are suspicious — why not? It’s really cheap and fast.

MrSpringDiver
I'm in EU By saying I can't make "startup" this means I can't take the process to manufacture and sell the product right now To register a company for the rights is so easy As I know it's not hard to register an EU patent, Isn't it?
obulpathi
Have you considered making your patent into an NFT? Let me know if you are interested.
NicoJuicy
He can sell it on an NFT, but legally it will still be his patent...

I can already guess that you don't know anything about patents and how they work in particular.

MrSpringDiver
NFT isn't suitable for a patent Honestly I don't like NFT at all
vestrigi
I heard it‘s not uncommon to approach companies that maybe could make use of the patent in the future or that are already potentially violating your patent. You approach them and suggest they license your patent to avoid a future lawsuit against you.
MrSpringDiver
I thought about that But it would be riskful because they may register it and you get zero As I know you can give them franchise to use it (like renting) or sell the whole patent
giantg2
If you want to sell your patent, you have to actually patent it first.